Seated next to a window in a room with the trappings of a prosperous bygone era, including rich wood and period fixtures, I look out and see the river, the glow of the setting sun, and notice the wind whipping through the trees. To my left is the stately and very yellow Tower Bridge.
The food arrives at our table. On my plate this evening is a duck breast with a pomegranate glaze, perfectly cooked medium rare, with smoked yellow pepper coulis (a thick purée), sautéed spinach, and duck confit potato croquettes with a startling wealth of flavor.
When I later described this meal on my Facebook page, several friends wanted to know exactly where I had encountered this refined and delicious dish. The glaze alone was a combination of hoisin, oyster sauce, soy sauce and pomegranate molasses.
Overall: 3 stars
Service: 3 stars
Ambience: 4 stars
Food: 3 stars
Value: 3 stars
No one would have guessed that I had been on a boat moored in Old Sacramento – beyond the sidewalks made of wooden planks, over the cobbled Front Street, down a gangplank and aboard the elegant but often-overlooked Delta King, all 285 feet and 82 up-and-down and all-around years.
Yes, this part of town is isolated through bad design (that's a massive interstate cutting off our city from our river) and by reputation (it's too often left to the tourists).
Everyone knows about the fine dining at the highly regarded Firehouse and its massive collection of wines. But this charming old boat deserves its due.
The food is surprisingly good, the menu serious, the ingredients thoughtfully sourced, including buffalo and grass-fed beef, with an emphasis on sustainable farming practices. The cooking is skillful and consistent. Every cut of meat we tried was cooked precisely. (A minor exception in the cooking was our risotto, which was a little too firm).
And it's all on a boat that was christened in 1927 to make those 10-hour overnight voyages to San Francisco, featuring the appropriate balance of Prohibition-era booze, jazz, gambling and – can't imagine – wild parties in which money was sometimes exchanged for affection.
Those days didn't last forever. The boat chugged and sputtered through the Great Depression, was unceremoniously stripped for spare parts during World War II, and later became the subject of grand dreams and delusions by various developers and promoters.
Over the decades, the Delta King traveled hither and yon looking for a new home.
It sank and sat for 18 months in San Francisco Bay before, finally, in 1984, someone had it towed to Old Sacramento, where it took five years to overhaul it into a hotel and restaurant permanently moored along the Sacramento River. These days, this historic ship is a mix of old and new, right from period light fixtures to the free WiFi.
The restaurant itself has seen its good and lean times, known mostly to locals as a place for special occasions like Valentine's Day. But under the direction of chef Julian Vasquez, it appears poised to reassert itself somewhere in the upper echelon of the area's dining options even if it's not at the epicenter of our dining boom.
The Pilothouse Restaurant can attract a larger clientele simply by getting the word out that it is serving traditional American cuisine with a pleasant twist in a setting that does not feature acid-stained concrete floors, booths, an open kitchen, pendant lighting and noise, lots of it.
What's more, the bar and lounge, with seating indoors and out facing the river, is soon changing to a bar and grill, with a new menu, a laid-back atmosphere and small plates under $20 such as barbecue ribs and ahi on won tons.
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